An everyday case of identity theft

Aug. 25, 2009

I’ve had people call me many different things over my life, Hot Rod, Big Red, Captain Kvein (no, that’s not a typo,) and many others that I can’t post as I’d like to keep the site family-friendly. None of them have ever defined me, but several of them gave me a spark in my step as it felt nice to be noticed.

Something happened a while ago, but I can’t say exactly when. I realized after Nathan was born that he had quickly definitely turned into the star of the family. Somehow, shortly after that I turned into 'Nathan’s Dad.' If you asked many people, "Where's Kevin?" they’d stare blankly back at you. Unlike all of the other names, this truly started to redefine who I am.

A change like this is a coup for a graphic designer. It’s a change in brand…in identity. I almost felt like I needed a new logo, business card, the whole package. Along with a new brand, a new set of branding standards were sure to follow, to firmly define what this change means.

With all of the activities that we participate in (mainly for Nathan) I now just introduce myself as Nathan’s Dad, and if people never know the Kevin part, it’s no big deal. I wear the new name as a badge of honor, not as a special-needs dad, just the dad of a very special guy.

When I see how hard he works on every task, reaching, rolling, stepping, etc. it makes me want to work harder. You can see it in his eyes, the determination to grab a spoon or reach that toy that’s just beyond his grasp. Granted, many times he takes advantage of it, feigning effort/strain all to get you to get it for him. I question anyone who calls him stupid.

Nathan’s reputation seems to proceed him wherever we go. We keep running into people especially PT students/therapists that pop-up in the same circles. Just the other day, we got the call about the home-visit for school and she said “how excited she was Nathan was coming back this year.” When we asked if she was in his class last year, she just replied, “No, but everyone knows Nathan.”

Many people ask, “What’s in a name?” I can’t say until last year I had thought about it too much. All I know now is if people don’t know, want to overlook or even want to bring down my name, I will always do everything I can to live up to what it means to be called Nathan’s Dad.

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